in association with

Presents

MARKSENSE
Marketing Case Study Competition
JioPhone: Case Study
Jio
Jio was launched in Sept 2016 as the most disruptive offering in the industry that made all voice calls
free. The Indian telecom market was till then used to different tariff plans from different operators,
changing so often besides people paying a premium for services like STD calls and roaming. Jio erased all
of that by making voice free for lifetime and introducing VoLTE 4G services for the first ever time in
India. Jio made high speed internet extremely pocket friendly at a time when industry players were
charging consumers as much as Rs.250 for 1GB. This changed the entire landscape of the industry
making high speed data extremely easy and accessible to millions. Within less than a year, Jio went on to
become one of the largest players in the industry, and India became the highest data consuming nation
in the world.

JioPhone
4G handsets usually start at around the Rs.4000 price-point. To further make its high speed VoLTE 4G
services accessible to one and all, Jio went a step ahead and launched JioPhone in Sept 2017, offering
an entry level smartphone handset with full 4G capabilities. A compact smartphone with keypad,
JioPhone fully supports the Jio Application suite, which means one can watch over 450 live TV channels
through Jio TV app, access over 6000+ movies from Jio Cinema app, access over 1 crore songs from Jio
Music app and so on. Jio Phone has been made available against a security deposit of just Rs.1500 that
would be refunded back to the customer after a period of 3 yrs against surrendering the phone. So Jio
Phone handset would be effectively free, whereas Jio services for voice & data for Jio Phone are
available at an extremely attractive tariff starting from Rs.49 a month. Please go through the complete
features of Jio Phone from the website for thorough product understanding.

The Primary Segment

While the price-point of Rs.1500 is affordable for everyone, it is of a relatively higher relevance to an
audience that has a handset budget between Rs.1000 & Rs.2000 and is looking at extracting maximum
value against their budget. We are talking of SEC C & D primarily with limited means, for whom
Rs.1500 is significant amount and hence they have high price sensitivity while making a purchase
decision. This could include skilled or unskilled workers, daily wage labourers, workers from
unorganized sectors (maids, servants, helpers, technicians, petty shop workers, hawkers etc).

Mumbai has approx. 10 million active 2G users who would form an ideal prospect base wanting
to upgrade to 4G at a very low price point.

You can consider the above two segments primarily for marketing solutions.

The Opportunity
Approximately 2 lac “feature-phones” are sold in Mumbai every month. Currently Jio Phone sales
account for 20% of this share. With 4G services, live TV channels, movies, free calls and such features,
Jio Phone offers far more value as compared to its competition at that price point. Brands like Intex and
other local players offering handsets in the Rs.1500 range ‘only’ offer handset whereas Jio Phone comes
with a suit of un-comparative features / services.
The Challenge
This case pertains to Mumbai city, the financial capital of India. Mumbai being India’s largest metro
city is the hub of critical commercial / social industries like fashion, lifestyle, Bollywood, stock market
etc. This makes Mumbai an early adopter when it comes to lifestyle / technology driven products. An
offering like Jio Phone is more suited for late entrants like rural markets, semi-urban pockets etc.
(For eg.: a vegetable vendor in Mumbai might have a bike, a smartphone as compared to a vegetable
vendor in Akola who might not even have a mobile).

The Task
1. Demand Generation: Given the challenges, the offering is extremely powerful. Be it a second /
third phone for the household, or a phone for the elderly, Jio Phone at this price point (which is
also refundable) and features present a great opportunity to generate demand through
marketing innovation. What are the innovations & ideas that could be deployed to create a
fresh wave of demand for Jio Phone?
- We are looking for innovative solutions through marketing activities only.
- We are not looking at ATL (TV campaign, Print ads, Hoardings etc) as that already exists
- Answers in the form of “what all could be done in the market/ on ground to generate buzz”

2. Value Propositions: Suggest strong value propositions that can create an impact, strike high
relevance and remain sustainable over a period of time. Value propositions should ideally
stem from market realities (truths), consumer insights (or need gaps) aligned with product
offerings. The value proposition should be strong enough to create a campaign umbrella
(brand positioning or long term communication platform).
- Eg: Women don’t talk about ageing V/S Women openly discuss ageing (Brand: Dove)
- Eg: Happy moments call for something sweet (Dairy Milk, kuch meetha ho jaaye)
- Eg: Nothing should come in between children & childhood (Daag acche hote hai)

3. Mandatories
- All solutions should be in a PPT format, not exceeding 15 slides & 20 mins presentation
- All entries will be the property of RIL
- RIL reserves the right to exercise implementation of any ideas or suggestions
- Dates and deadlines to be followed as mandated by the competition
- Sharing / uploading of case study in public domains (websites etc) or discussions / mentions on
public forums is strictly prohibited.